


It's Now or Never (It's My Life Remix)

by knittycat99



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-11
Updated: 2013-04-11
Packaged: 2017-12-08 03:20:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/756419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knittycat99/pseuds/knittycat99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Mike notices Kurt noticing him, and one time he does something about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Now or Never (It's My Life Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jono74656](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jono74656/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Your Body Really Knows How To Speak](https://archiveofourown.org/works/570413) by [jono74656](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jono74656/pseuds/jono74656). 



> Beta read by asecondgrace and raving_liberal. Thanks to both of you for the emergency editing, it's greatly appreciated.

**1\. It’s My Life/Confessions**

Mike was feeling _good_.  Whatever was in those pills Finn had gotten from the nurse, they’d made Mike feel all floaty and happy and definitely _not_ nervous about dancing in front of the other guys.  He still wasn’t entirely comfortable dancing in public, but he knew he was going to have to get over that sometime.

It helped a lot, the way that Kurt was not-so-subtly staring at him.  

At first, Mike hadn’t been sure he was seeing things right.  The pills _did_ make his brain feel a little fuzzy.  Maybe he was imagining it.  Maybe it wasn’t happening at all, because if Kurt _were_ staring at him _that way_ , shouldn’t that make Mike uncomfortable?

It didn’t make him uncomfortable, not at all.  It made him feel special, like someone actually _saw_ him in a way that he always kept hidden.  

He watched Kurt out of the corner of his eye while he tried out the most difficult of the dance moves he’d been able to work out in the limited space his bedroom provided.  He felt his shirt slide up his stomach as he righted himself out of that fake-falling trick, and he caught Kurt staring, blushing, and looking away.

Oh, hell, it most _definitely_ wasn’t the pills.

**2\. You Can’t Always Get What You Want**

“Here.” Mike set his hands on Kurt’s shoulders.  “Finn’s right, we’re best when we’re loose.  You need to relax, man.”  

The choreography wasn’t hard, and Kurt wasn’t a bad dancer, not when there were instructions to follow.  Free form, he was a total disaster, but Mike knew Kurt could handle the steps he and Britt had cobbled together.

Kurt’s shoulders tensed under Mike’s hands, but Mike didn’t let go.  “Just breathe with it,” he said, tucking his face a little closer to Kurt’s ear.  “You need to feel the music in your body.  I know you _know_ that.”

Kurt nodded slowly, and the movement sent the deep heady scent of his cologne wafting over Mike.   _God_ , he smelled good.  Mike thought for a moment that he felt Kurt start to lean into the space where their bodies were kind of curved together, but then Kurt pulled away and Miss P was calling for them.  Everyone was moving and the moment was gone.

Mike felt Kurt’s absence as the whole club made their way backstage.

_Shit_.  He _really_ needed to figure out what was going on.

**3\. Vogue**

Mike supposed he should have asked Kurt before crashing his rehearsal for the _Vogue_ number, but it was secretly his favorite Madonna video and he just wanted to be a part of the project.

When Mike walked through the door, Kurt was trying out some of the choreography from the original video.

Mike’s breath caught in his throat.

Kurt was wearing a vintage-style tux; he looked like one of the baby-faced idols from Mike’s mom’s old black and white movies, the same ones that had gotten Mike hooked on dancing one snowy weekend when he was in fifth grade.  He could see a faint glimpse of the man Kurt would grow up to be, and god, was he going to be handsome.

The choreography wasn’t hard at all; Kurt kept it fairly true to the original, so Mike took advantage of a little bit of down time to stretch out on one of the sofas in the corner of the room and watch while Kurt put the finishing touches on Mercedes’ makeup.  He’d never seen Kurt be in charge like that before.  It was intriguing and exciting.

Kurt was fully absorbed in what he was doing, except for a single heartbeat when he turned and stared at Mike, and Mike felt the bottom drop out of his stomach.  

It was there, he _saw_ it, just a hint of a maybe-flicker of unmasked wanting that dashed across Kurt’s features.

Mike had to admit, as the spring wore on, he tried more and more to elicit that reaction from Kurt.  It was kind of fun, to watch him fray just a little at the edges, and it gave Mike a welcome distraction from Tina dating Artie, and the fact that football was over for the season and Mike’s father was being hard on Mike _again_ about his (nearly perfect) grades, Glee, college, and what he was going to do with his summer . . .

Kurt was a good distraction.  That was _all_ he was

Kurt helped Coach Sylvester into a fitted black blazer and then looked over his shoulder at Mike.  Mike’s stomach flipped.

Distraction.  Right.

**4\.  Le Jazz Hot**

The first day Mike showed up, tagging along with Tina to her rehearsal with Kurt, Kurt just stared at him.

“If you’re going to be here, I’m putting you to work,” Kurt said after a long moment.  “You and Lewis are going to lift me at the end.”  Kurt gestured to the tallest of the male Cheerios who were draped over the barres along the walls of the dance studio.  “You better not drop me.”

Mike smirked and gestured with a mock salute.  “No dropping.  Aye aye, captain.”

Tina just winked at him.  She’d called him on his Kurt fixation almost as soon as they started dating; Mike thought maybe she thought it was cute.  Either that or she was having secret fantasies of watching, if Mike ever got over himself and admitted that he really _did_ have a little crush on Kurt.

“You’ll have the perfect opportunity to cop a feel,” Tina teased him while they stretched.  “You should take it; you might never get the chance again.”

“Shut.  Up,”  Mike growled at her as he stretched his torso out to touch the floor.  “I wouldn’t do that to Kurt.”

Tina rolled her eyes.  “ _Sure_ you wouldn’t, Mr. _Kurt looks so hot in those pants_.”

Mike kept his body down, but he pulled his hand off his ankle to flip Tina off.  “I hate you.”

“No you don’t, baby.  And I told you, it’s okay with me.  Who knows, maybe this will be your chance.”

Mike just snorted and stood, brushing his pants to get rid of the dust from the studio floor.  “No.  Never gonna happen,” he swore.

The first time was an accident, honestly, but when Kurt didn’t react Mike kept doing it.  He didn’t even lie to himself about it; it was intentional as hell, grabbing Kurt’s ass like that.

Tina and Britt kept shooting looks at him and giggling together in the corner.  Lewis didn’t seem to notice anything was going on at all, and by the time they finished for the day Mike could have sworn that Kurt was actually enjoying it.

Mike knew they needed to talk about it, but he didn’t even know where to start.

It took him almost two weeks after the performance to work it all out, figure out what he wanted to say, but by the time he’d gathered up the courage to approach Kurt, he was already gone to Dalton.

They weren’t the kind of friends who talked on the phone or emailed or anything.  They weren’t any kind of friends at all, really, so Mike just tucked Kurt into the corner of his mind where he kept the things that had no resolution and turned his attention back to Tina and football and his (still nearly perfect) grades.

**5\. I’ve Gotta Be Me**

Mike would have helped Finn anyway, but rehearsing at the Hummel-Hudson house was an added bonus.  “Do you think Kurt would help?” Mike asked as they walked to Finn’s truck.  

“He’ll be home by dinner.” Finn shrugged.  “You can ask him.  Do you need the help with my dancing or your singing?”

“Both.”  Mike nudged Finn with his shoulder.  “But mostly your dancing, bro.  If you break _my_ nose I’m never helping you again.”

Finn stepped back and threw his hands up.  “No promises, dude.  I feel like I should come with a warning label.”

Mike laughed.  “That might not be a bad idea.”

**

Mike and Finn were taking a break from dancing when Kurt dragged through the front door.  His tie was partially undone and his shirt was untucked from his pants.  He looked so _strange_ in that uniform, so _tired_.  Mike felt sad for him.  “Long day?” he asked, taking a swig from his can of Sprite.

“Always.”  Kurt dropped his bag on the stairs and surveyed the out-of-place furniture.  “What’re you guys up to?”

“Schue’s latest assignment.”  Mike gestured to where Finn was sprawled in Burt’s recliner.  “Finn wanted to dance, and I thought maybe I should sing.”

“So it’s more of a challenge for Finn than for you.”  Kurt eyed Finn with a smirk.

“Fuck you,” Finn said.  “I’m not _that_ bad.  Tell him, Mike.  I’m not that bad.”

“He hasn’t broken any bones yet,” Mike teased.  “Would you be willing to help?”

He watched Kurt flick his eyes from Finn to Mike to his school bag and then back to Mike again.  They held each other’s gaze for a few heated seconds before Kurt looked away.  “Okay,” he said finally.  “Let me go change and I’ll come back down.”

Mike tried not to stare as Kurt made his way up the stairs.

“He has a boyfriend,” Finn warned under his breath.

“What?”

“Kurt.  He has a boyfriend.  Y _ou_ have a girlfriend.  And _we_ have a performance to work on.  All hands and feet inside the ride at all times or some shit like that.”

Mike shook his head.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, man.”

“Uh huh.”  Finn didn’t sound convinced.  “I’m not blind.  And your girlfriend kind of has a big mouth.”

“Fuuuuucccck.”  Mike dropped his head back against the sofa and groaned.  “That ship sailed months ago.  It’s done.”

“Right.”

Footsteps clattered on the stairs and Kurt was back, looking a lot more comfortable in yoga pants and a t-shirt.  “Let’s do this if we’re doing it.  I have a ton of homework tonight.”

Kurt picked up the choreography quickly and easily, and he was patient with Finn while they went over it again and again and _again_.  It was never going to be perfect, so Mike finally decided to let Finn practice dancing _and_ singing while he worked through some of his own trickier choreography.

Kurt stood off to the side, almost in the kitchen doorway; Mike could feel Kurt’s eyes on him, and yeah, maybe Kurt’s stare gave Mike the courage to be a little more over the top in his dancing.  It felt kind of like it had back when they’d done that first all-boys number over a year ago.  It was familiar and hot, and Mike realized in an instant that he’d missed it.  

Mike spun into a pirouette, and while his head was swinging around he caught sight of Kurt moving, shifting, pressing his hand . . . _oh_.

Mike stopped on a dime and stared at Kurt.  Kurt stared back.

There was color high on Kurt’s cheeks.  He swallowed visibly, and Mike took one step closer.  

This couldn’t be happening.

This wasn’t supposed to be happening.

Mike blinked, but the tension between them didn’t dissipate.  

Mike stepped again, but that time Kurt stepped back.  Mike didn’t move, didn’t want to break the delicate thread connecting them.  He raised his hand, and Kurt flinched, and then Finn was crashing into them in a blur of flailing limbs.  

Mike just sighed and shook his head.  

He _really_ needed to give his infatuation up.

**+1 ABC**

Everyone else had gone to class or lunch, but Kurt had lingered while everyone else was gathering their things.  Mike glanced at him from where he was cooling down from rehearsal.  “You have a free period now?

“Yeah.”  Kurt sipped at his water.  “I was wondering . . . I’m still kind of freaking out about this leap-frog thing.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Mike shook his head.  “I told Schue it should come out, but you know Schue.”

“Yeah.”  Kurt swallowed hard.  “Would you . . . would you be willing to work on it with me?  I don’t want to hurt you in the middle of competition.”

“Sure.”  Mike talked Kurt through the mechanics of it, and then crouched down in the middle of the stage.  “It’s like those old Nike ads.   _Just Do It_ , or whatever.”

“Uh huh.”  

Mike felt the pressure of Kurt’s hands in the middle of his back, and he thought everything was going fine until Kurt’s hands were slipping.  Mike tensed for a moment when Kurt’s hands _kept_ sliding, down down down over his ass.  Then Kurt was falling and laughing, and Mike was falling with him.  It was so sudden Mike didn’t even have a chance to really think about it.  It was funny and stupid and all the things Mike had been wanting for almost two years.

He tried to keep Kurt from getting up, because he was _not_ going to let this chance escape him again.

“I’d kind of like to get up.  This is a little too awkward for me,” Kurt said.

Mike held on, trapping Kurt’s legs with his own and holding a hand snug at Kurt’s back.  “Is it really, Kurt?  Because . . .” Mike paused to take a breath.  “To be honest, I’ve been waiting to jump you for years.  I just didn’t think it would be you _literally_ jumping me.”   Oh god, he’d really _said_ that.  He felt his face get hot, but when he looked up Kurt was blushing red as well.  Mike wrapped his arms tighter around Kurt’s body and sighed happily as Kurt relaxed against him.

“I’ve wanted this for a long time,” Mike continued.  Now that his admission was out there, it was a lot easier to find the words to talk about it.  “I know you have, too.  You’re not exactly subtle, you know.”

“What about Tina?” Kurt asked, his voice hushed.

“Tina’s been teasing me about this since we started dating.  Apparently _I’m_ not so subtle, either.”

Kurt rested his forehead against Mike’s shoulder.  “What about--”

“Shhh.”  Mike knew they might not get this chance again.  He touched his lips to Kurt’s.  It was soft and hot and electric, all those years of waiting and wanting just coursing through both of them.

It was so much more than Mike had imagined.

He stopped thinking, finally.  He just let go.

**

Mike’s entire body had been crawling with adrenaline since he’d left Kurt in the hall outside the auditorium, both of them breathless and more than a little rumpled.  He’d taken a hot shower after dinner and climbed into bed early, but he hadn’t been able to concentrate on books or tv.  Finally he’d just given in and turned off his light.  

He’d been lying in bed, in the dark, for over an hour when his phone buzzed.

_1 new text message_

_From: Kurt_

_Tomorrow, same time same place?_

Mike grinned to himself and sent back a smiley face.

No strings fun between friends.  Mike could handle that.  Apparently, Kurt could too.

 


End file.
